5. What part of his past is Gatsby trying to recapture? Is he successful? Is there a person, feeling, or event in your past
that you'd want to revisit? http://images.contactmusic.com/images/reviews2/thegreatgatsby.jpg
Gatsby is trying to recapture the love of his life Daisy, from their younger lives. When Gatsby was heading off to war, and having to work for what he wanted, and Daisy was a
hometown girl who lived with her parents and got everything she wanted. After Gatsby went to war Daisy moved on and married Tom and had a little girl. When Gatsby found out that
Nick was related to Daisy he asked Nick to invite Daisy to Nick's house in order to reconnect with Daisy, "Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay...The modesty of the demand shook me. He had waited five years and bought a mansion where he dispensed starlight to casual moths- so that he could 'come over' some afternoon to a strangers garden" (p 78). They met several times afterwards to catch up on each others new lives. We believe that Gatsby was successful in recapturing his past, concerning Daisy.
If I could recapture anything from my past it would probably be my dad who died when i was young. I would want to know what he is really like and what he could have accomlished in life if he did not die. I would also like to see my grandparents more from my dads side because we did not see that much of them after he passed away.
If I could recapture anything from my past it would probably be when I moved to Colorado. I would have had a better attitude towards the entire idea instead of wasting a year sulking around in my room, in that year I could have become closer to my family, and I would have most likely have made more friends.
We think the meaning of the title is about how Gatsby goes about making his life great, and the trials it takes to achieve a great life. Gatsby was great because unlike those who are given greatness, Gatsby earns greatness through the struggles and trials of his life. Even though he earned the life most people work hard to achieve, he was unable to win back the heart of Daisy, which would have been his life goal and ultimate happiness. Most people go through life working hard for money or some sort of fullfillment, never really being happy, Daisy would have been Gatsby's happiness.
At the end of chapter 8 it describes Gatsby's life in comparison with a pool, the pool resembling life, and the waves resembling the people who made a difference. Last comes the ripples being the life of those who just pass through life only here till the end comes toward them. "With little ripples that were hardly the shadows of waves, the laden mattress moved irregularly down the pool" (pg 162). We feel this quote really explains Gatsby's life in a way that is more imaginable to the reader in comparison with 'the pool of life'.
4. What is Nick Carraway's role in the novel? Consider Nick's father's advice in chapter one: "Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had." Does telling the story from Nick's point of view make it more believable?
Nick's role in the novel is; first the narrator, and second helps move along the rest of the book by reuniting Gatsby and Daisy. Nick is like the middle character, if the book would have been written in Gatsby's point of view, up till the point he dies. This might have made the book more believeable, because we would have gotten the better truth from Gatsby and how it really was rather than from Nick's perspective. As Nick embodies in extreme the principle of order and decorum, so disorder and indecorum are embodied in all of the other characters, from the anonymous people at Gatsby's parties to Gatsby himself.
Andrea and Megan
Gatsby
5. What part of his past is Gatsby trying to recapture? Is he successful? Is there a person, feeling, or event in your past
that you'd want to revisit?
Gatsby is trying to recapture the love of his life Daisy, from their younger lives. When Gatsby was heading off to war, and having to work for what he wanted, and Daisy was a
hometown girl who lived with her parents and got everything she wanted. After Gatsby went to war Daisy moved on and married Tom and had a little girl. When Gatsby found out that
Nick was related to Daisy he asked Nick to invite Daisy to Nick's house in order to reconnect with Daisy, "Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay...The modesty of the demand shook me. He had waited five years and bought a mansion where he dispensed starlight to casual moths- so that he could 'come over' some afternoon to a strangers garden" (p 78). They met several times afterwards to catch up on each others new lives. We believe that Gatsby was successful in recapturing his past, concerning Daisy.
If I could recapture anything from my past it would probably be my dad who died when i was young. I would want to know what he is really like and what he could have accomlished in life if he did not die. I would also like to see my grandparents more from my dads side because we did not see that much of them after he passed away.
If I could recapture anything from my past it would probably be when I moved to Colorado. I would have had a better attitude towards the entire idea instead of wasting a year sulking around in my room, in that year I could have become closer to my family, and I would have most likely have made more friends.
6. What is the meaning of the title? In what way is Gatsby great?
We think the meaning of the title is about how Gatsby goes about making his life great, and the trials it takes to achieve a great life. Gatsby was great because unlike those who are given greatness, Gatsby earns greatness through the struggles and trials of his life. Even though he earned the life most people work hard to achieve, he was unable to win back the heart of Daisy, which would have been his life goal and ultimate happiness. Most people go through life working hard for money or some sort of fullfillment, never really being happy, Daisy would have been Gatsby's happiness.
At the end of chapter 8 it describes Gatsby's life in comparison with a pool, the pool resembling life, and the waves resembling the people who made a difference. Last comes the ripples being the life of those who just pass through life only here till the end comes toward them. "With little ripples that were hardly the shadows of waves, the laden mattress moved irregularly down the pool" (pg 162). We feel this quote really explains Gatsby's life in a way that is more imaginable to the reader in comparison with 'the pool of life'.
4. What is Nick Carraway's role in the novel? Consider Nick's father's advice in chapter one: "Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had." Does telling the story from Nick's point of view make it more believable?
Nick's role in the novel is; first the narrator, and second helps move along the rest of the book by reuniting Gatsby and Daisy. Nick is like the middle character, if the book would have been written in Gatsby's point of view, up till the point he dies. This might have made the book more believeable, because we would have gotten the better truth from Gatsby and how it really was rather than from Nick's perspective. As Nick embodies in extreme the principle of order and decorum, so disorder and indecorum are embodied in all of the other characters, from the anonymous people at Gatsby's parties to Gatsby himself.
Source Citation
Lisca, Peter. "Nick Carraway and the Imagery of Disorder." Twentieth Century Literature 13.1 (Apr. 1967): 18-28. Rpt. in Literature Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Literature Resource Center. Web. 17 Mar. 2010.
Document URL
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